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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30021426">In Another Timeline</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarshmallowBun/pseuds/MarshmallowBun'>MarshmallowBun</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>New School [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Has a Crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Alternate Timelines, Angst, Cute, F/M, Future Angst, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Has a Crush on Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Reverse Crush (Miraculous Ladybug), Timeline Shift, just chat tho</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 22:42:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,836</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30021426</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarshmallowBun/pseuds/MarshmallowBun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In another timeline where Lila was there the whole time lying it up and then in season 2 Marinette is the new student who gets picked on by Lila because Adrien develops a crush on her. She becomes the newest hero in Paris after master Fu witnesses her help save Chat from an akuma pinning him down, Chat Noir doesn’t know how to feel about Ladybug.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, implied crush - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>New School [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2208429</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>56</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>In Another Timeline</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marinette Dupain Cheng is your normal 14-year-old girl. She liked to bake with her parents and design clothes for her friends. If she had any, truth be told, she never had many friends because she was always homeschooled or self-taught. While her parents ran their small bakery in Giverny, France. Giverny is a small village of 500 or so people. Marinette called this townhome for the first 13 years of her life until, on her 14th birthday, she was accepted into Françoise DuPont Collège in Paris. She always wanted to go to public school and in Paris of all places. Her parents would always talk about opening up a bakery in Paris. Now was the perfect time to fulfill both desires. After a few months of looking for both the excellent bakery and the ideal home, eventually, they found the best place fit to call home. An additional bonus was that it was really close to the school, so Marinette wouldn't have to take the bus. </p><p>After packing up her room and saying goodbye to the few people, she knew they were off to their new home in Paris. Marinette was so excited, she was nearly vibrating in her seat of the moving truck. </p><p>Her father laughed from the driver's seat, "Marinette dear, please calm down. I know you are excited, but your happiness is blinding me." Her father said, looking over to the young girl.</p><p>"I can't, Papa; I finally get to go to an actual school that's not in my own room!" Marinette beams.</p><p>"I know, and I am glad you are so excited, and I promise once we meet up with Maman at the new bakery, and we bring your stuff to your new room, you can go explore, I promise!" Tom said while looking at the road, only turning his head slightly to see his daughter nod happily.</p><p>Once they reached the new bakery, Sabine walked out of the front door. She smiled brightly as her daughter opened the car door to greet her; Marinette tripped out the door but caught herself by the handle. She ran up to her mother and gave her a big hug while her father smiled from the truck. Marinette looked over to her side to see a big building, "wow, so that's my new school!" She began to jump with excitement.</p><p>"I see you are very energetic, Marinette." Her mother smiled.</p><p>"She's been like this for the whole car trip." Tom declares as he grabbed a stack of boxes and walked to the door. Sabine laughed and opened the door for him. Marinette followed him. Marinette ran around the whole living space of her new home, but she could find her room. She turned to her parents for an answer. They only looked at each other with a knowing smile; Tom led Marinette around the kitchen to a ladder. He climbed up the ladder and opened the trap door; he scooted over on the latter enough to let Marinette look in too. Marinette followed and peaked her head through the trap door and gasped seeing her things and her pre-made bed. </p><p>"This is my room?" She asked excitedly.</p><p>"Sure is!" Tom said with a big smile.</p><p>Marinette climbed up to survey the room, "wow-" she cut herself off to just continue looking around.</p><p>Her father climbed up and helped Sabine through, "when we saw this room, we immediately thought this would be the perfect room for our creative daughter." Sabine said as she fell into the familiar side hug with her husband, looking at their daughter.</p><p>Marinette turned to her parents; she ran at them and gave them both a big hug. They all laugh when Tom picks up the other two in his iconic bear hugs and twirls them around. When Tom released them, he said, "we still have a lot to do, so let's get the rest of the boxes out of the truck!" Marinette ran down the ladder, ready to move in the rest of the boxes.</p><p>After a few hours, they finished bringing in the rest of the boxes. Marinette was given permission to go out and explore. Marinette, equipped with her phone, purse, and sketchbook, went off with the first place she had in mind already. She always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower up close, and she lived right next to it basically. Once she reached it, she was amazed that something that tall could exist; she only knew her hometown for her whole life. Though being so close to Paris, she has never been here before, sure. Her hometown was beautiful, but this was a different kind of beauty that amazed her to no end. She walked around for a bit and pretended to be a tourist taking pictures and having a perfect time. She went to the Louvre. Next, It was crowded and cramped, but she enjoyed the art there. By the time she was finished with that, she had decided to pay a visit to the only person she knew in this town, her uncle Jagged. He was a loud eccentric man who Marinette adores to talk to; he would often visit, bringing excitement along with him and Fang, his alligator. Fang was a sweetheart no matter how many shoes he had eaten of Marinette's. She pulled out her phone and texted her uncle;</p><p>—</p><p>Marinette: we finished moving in, mind if I come to visit you?</p><p>—</p><p>He replied faster than she could blink;</p><p>—</p><p>Uncle J: OF COURSE! </p><p>Uncle J: Fang misses you just as much as I do! </p><p>Uncle J: I'm staying at Le Grand Paris Hotel; I'll be sure to have them look out for you!</p><p>—</p><p>Marinette smiled as she looked at the hotel on her phone; she found it on the map on her phone and began to walk there. On her way there, she saw a whole collection of posters of a blonde boy in a leather catsuit with the words Chat Noir in big, bold letters. Marinette thought it was silly, "must be a promotion for a tv show or something; I'll look it up later!" She said to herself as she went. </p><p>When she got there, she looked at the front door. A man stood in the front, looking at people as they passed like he was some sort of bouncer at a bar. Marinette walked up to the man, "um, I'm Marinette; I'm Jagged Stones niece, and I'm here to see him." She said with a hesitant smile. </p><p>The man looked down at her and took out a walkie-talkie, and asked into it, "does Jagged Stone have a niece?" </p><p>"I don't know?" Said one reply, "you think it's just some fangirl?" Asked another voice. The man looked back at Marinette and was about to tell her to go away before another voice came on, "is her name Marinette? Mr. Stone said he was expecting someone named Marinette."</p><p>The man pulled the walkie back to his mouth, "yep, she said her name was Marinette; I'm letting her in." The man stepped aside and opened the door for her and said, "Jagged Stone is up on the top floor."</p><p>"Thank you very much, Monsieur." Marinette smiled, running past him.</p><p>The man smiled and waved goodbye to her as she ran out of sight towards the elevators. Marinette waited for the elevator, and when it arrived, she was surprised to see an elevator operator in there. "What floor, miss?"</p><p>"Um, the top one? Or uh, the one before the roof, I guess." She said, unsure the man smiled and pressed the button. "I only thought elevator operators were only in movies?" She said quietly to herself. They reached the top floor, and Marinette got out and thanked the man; he only nodded with a smile as the doors closed in front of him. Marinette turned and was faced with a few doors; she didn't know which one was Jagged's, "now which one?" Marinette walked forward and looked around for any context clues on which room was her uncle's room. Just then, the elevator dinged again, catching her attention. She turned to see the elevator doors open up to a blonde girl with an annoyed look on her face. She walked out of the elevator. The elevator man didn't smile and nod like he did for Marinette but instead bowed with a blank expression.</p><p>When she noticed Marinette, she turned to her and said, "excuse me, can I help you?" In a condescending tone.</p><p>"I'm looking for someone-"</p><p>"Do I look like I care? What are you doing here!" She demanded.</p><p>"I'm looking for Jagged Stone's room!" Marinette said, now more firm, she didn't know who this girl was, but she would throw hands if threatened.</p><p>"Excuse me, do you know who I am! I'm Chloé Bourgeois, daughter of the mayor and the man who owns this building!"</p><p>"Weird flex, but ok," Marinette said, "does that mean you know which room he is in?" Marinette's mood instantly shifted from annoyed to hopeful.</p><p>"Do I look like a maid?!" She squawked.</p><p>"You just said your dad owns the hotel, so by extension, you do as well, so that must mean that you know which room is his?" Marinette said.</p><p>Chloé was about to retort, but a door opened, and there stood Jagged Stone's assistant, "oh Marinette, there you are." She smiled.</p><p>"Hello, Penny!" Marinette smiled and waved, ignoring Chloé.</p><p>Fang then skidded out of the room, causing Chloé to jump and screech. Marinette smiled and knelt down to scratch Fang's back, "hello again, Fang, it's nice to see you!" Marinette cooed.</p><p>Just then, Jagged burst past Penny with his arms outstretched, "Mari! How's my nibling!" </p><p>"Hello, uncle Jagged," Marinette said. She stood accepting the bear hug that runs in her father's side of the family. </p><p>"I see you met Miss. Bourgeois, I think she goes to that school you got into, DuPont!" Penny smiles as she walks past Jagged, grabbing Fang's leash. </p><p>Marinette looked back at Chloé, who was calmer and petting Fang, "you go to DuPont? That's awesome!" Marinette said, forgetting their first interaction. She reached her hand out to shake Chloé's, "I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I hope we can be friends." She smiled.</p><p>Chloé just glared and sighed, "Ugh, whatever," she said less fiercely than before, "friends is a strong word, you're lucky my Adrikens is trying to get me to make new friends." Chloé reaches out her hand to shake Marinette.</p><p>Marinette looked at her strangely before Jagged draped an arm over her shoulder and said, "got any new designs from me, love? Marinette's an awesome designer. She makes her own clothes and everything!" Jagged bragged to Chloé, "she made my last album cover!" He added proudly.</p><p>"You design clothes. Ugh, I bet they aren't as good as my mother's designs. My mother is world-renowned fashion designer Audrey Bourgeois, not to brag or anything. Who am I kidding? I'm bragging." Chloé said with a smirk.</p><p>"That's cool. Wanna hang out sometime and swap fashion advice?" Marinette said with a smile.</p><p>"Are you saying I need fashion help?" Chloé accuses.</p><p>"No, of course not. If you are the daughter of a world-renowned fashion designer, you must have at least some knowledge about it. I want a critical opinion." Marinette beamed. </p><p>Chloé nearly fell over at the explanation, "of course you want my help, I'm amazing!" </p><p>"Cool! Give me your number, and we can talk about meeting up!" Marinette said positively.</p><p>They exchanged numbers and went their separate ways. Marinette thought Chloé was pretty self-absorbed. Still, her opinion may be suitable for her to better her designs. Besides that, Marinette just really wanted to make friends, and why not start where you can.</p><p>Marinette was guided into jagged's room, where they talked and hung out. They played videogames talking smack to each other the whole time. Jagged showed her the songs he wrote recently, and Marinette showed him her newest drawings. Before they realized it, it was 17:00, and it was about dinner time, "you three can come over and eat dinner with us!" Marinette offered to Jagged and Penny as she pet Fang. </p><p>"Yes!" Jagged said enthusiastically.</p><p>"No," Penny corrects, "Jagged has a dinner meeting with his producer and an hour." Jagged sighed in defeat.</p><p>"maybe next time!" Marinette says with a smile, "talk to you later, uncle Jagged, bye Penny, bye Fang!" Marinette calls as she walks out the door and towards the elevator. </p><p>Halfway on her walk home, a sudden explosion caught her attention. In front of her was a flying human with brightly colored blue skin and crazy hair cackling as people ran in the opposite direction. Marinette felt fear build in her chest, "what the hell?" she yelled as she turned to run.</p><p>"Tell me to use less color? HA, I'll show you too much color!" the flying person yells, pointing their wand in the direction where Marinette was running, and out came a blast of brightly colored slime. Marinette let out a scream of terror before a black blur rushed in, picking her up and out of the way just in time. The next thing Marinette knew, she was on a rooftop in the arms of the leather cat boy she saw on the poster earlier. </p><p>"Ha, that was quite a colorful attack you got there!" the cat boy, Chat Noir, said with a smirk, and Marinette clung to him for dear life.</p><p>"What the hell is going on?" she yelled.</p><p>"Not from around here, are ya?" Chat Noir asked, "well, you were just saved by the meowvelous Chat Noir, and that," he gestured to the person in front of them, "is an Akuma victim."</p><p>"Did you just make a cat pun?" Marinette asked.</p><p>"Chat noir! Give me your miraculous!" the colorful Akuma shouts.</p><p>"No chance!" Chat smirked and jumped down from the building, causing Marinette to hang onto him tighter as he ran past the Akuma.</p><p>The Akuma gasped and tried to follow but chat used his cataclysm on a water tower, making it fall onto the Akuma trapping it just enough to getaway. As Chat ran, Marinette stared up at him. She couldn't tell whether it was the excitement or Chat's bright cocky smile that made her heartbeat quicken. Chat stopped and placed Marinette back on the ground when they were far enough away from the wreckage. </p><p>"So, are you new in town?" Chat asked.</p><p>Marinette nodded, "I just moved here."</p><p>"Oh nice, how do you like Paris so far? Pretty great, huh?" Chat smiled as he looked down at his ring, "oh shoot, I got to run, CATch ya later, pigtails!" he shot her with finger guns before taking off again.</p><p>"Bye, I guess?" Marinette said, unsure of what was happening, "this must be a dream!" she said to herself, "Yeah, that must be it! I'll wake up at home in my new bed in my new room, and I will get ready for the first day of my new school!" she declared. She began to walk back to her parent's bakery.</p><p>She neared the Eiffel Tower on her walk back. A crash of a car against the ground made her jump. Just ahead of her, she saw the cat boy and the rainbow person fight back and forth. The rainbow person knocked down the cat boy and restrained his arms, and reached for his ring. Marinette didn't know what was happening, but she felt like if the person gets his ring, it would be bad. She thought fast, undoing her hair ties and taking aim with it. She shot her hair tie at the Akuma that sat on top of the cat boy getting their attention. </p><p>"Hey, bright eyes!" she shouts,"  don't you know if an outfit has too many colors, it gets too distracting!"</p><p>"What did you say, GIRL?!" the Akuma demanded as they stood with their wand pointed at Marinette. </p><p>At this point, Chat took this opportunity to grab onto the Akuma's wand and elbowed them in the face, knocking said wand from their grasp. He broke it into two, and a black butterfly flew out, "Cataclysm!" he shouts and grabs the butterfly crushing it in his hand. </p><p>The Akuma fell to their knees, and black smoke dissolved the person's costume, revealing a college student. The person looked confused like they didn't know what was going on. They looked up at Chat Noir and gasped, "I was akumatized, I'm so sorry." they bowed their heads.</p><p>Chat Noir smiled and held out his hand for the person. They grabbed his hand. He helped them up, "dont worry about it, you can't control how you feel, but I wish you the best of luck in whatever is going on that caused you to get upset." </p><p>The person smiled and nodded," thank you," they said and walked away.</p><p>Chat turned and walked up to Marinette, "wow, that was some quick thinking pigtails." Chat smirked.</p><p>"I have a name, you know,"</p><p>"Then may I ask the princess what it is?" Chat purred closely to Marinette's ear.</p><p>She blushed, "m-my na-name is Marinette Dupian-Cheng." she stuttered out.</p><p>"It is a pleasure." Chat purred as he grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckle, causing Marinette to go red. Chat's ring began to beep, "I must go, see you around, princess." Chat waved as he pole-vaulted away.</p><p>Marinette shook her head, trying to collect her thoughts, "I have to get home!" she says as she continues to run back to her new home.</p><p>Unknown to her but an old man sat watching from afar.</p><p>When she got home, she rushed inside. Her parents immediately hugged her close, "are you alright, Marinette?" her mother asked.</p><p>"Uh huh, someone saved me," Marinette said.</p><p>"I am glad you should have invited them over for dinner!" Tom said.</p><p>"He left before I could." Marinette answers.</p><p>"Well, if you see him again, don't hesitate to invite him over," Sabine added.</p><p>"alright," Marinette agreed.</p><p>"Now, let's have dinner. The food is getting cold." Tom beamed and led his family up to the kitchen. They ate dinner and talked for a while before Marinette decided it was time to sleep. She went up to her room and laid down in her freshly made bed, and fell into sweet dreams of the cat boy who saved her.</p><p>—</p><p>The next thing she heard was a loud beeping of her alarm clock blaring, yelling at her to get up. With a groan, she sits up and looks around. Her room is still a mess of boxes and unsituated furniture. She glared in confusion for a second before realizing where she was and what day it was. "First day of school!" She shouts as she nearly tripped down the stairs from her bed. She ran around her room, digging in boxes for the clothes she had specifically made for her first day of school. When she found them, she ran to the bathroom to shower. When she was fully dressed, she looked at her reflection to examine her clothes. She wore a white button-up with pink polka dots tucked into her calf-length denim pants, a white belt, and a jean jacket with baggy sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She then tied her hair in her usual pigtails with her red scrunches and nodded in approval. </p><p>She grabbed her backpack and purse before going down through the trap door into the kitchen. Both of her parents have been up for hours baking and preparing for the grand opening of their bakery. </p><p>Marinette's father smiled at her when she reached the bakery, "good morning, Marinette!" He beamed. </p><p>"Morning, Maman, Papa!" She said as she ran around the bakery, trying to find the snacks that she made the night before, specifically for the first day of school. </p><p>"You are early, bāobāo," Sabine said as she walked up to Marinette.</p><p>"I can't be late for my first day of school!" She replies, jumping from foot to foot in excitement.</p><p>"Well, have a nice day then!" Sabine says as she pulls Marinette down to kiss her forehead. Marinette copy's the action then hugs her and her father before running out the front door. She was waiting at the crosswalk when she saw an older man crossing the street. She was about to shout out at him but then saw a car coming, without really thinking about it she ran into the street and grabbed the man by the hand and ran back to the side she was just at. She tripped and dropped her macaron box, losing a few macarons in the process. She panted heavily and asked the man, "are you ok?"</p><p>The old man picked up the macaron box and handed it back to her, "thank you, young lady," he then got close and patted her shoulder, "have a lovely rest of your day." And he hobbled off in a direction. Marinette was about to say something but realized the walk sign was flashing, and she ran across. She didn't know the small black jewelry box now mixing with her things.</p><p>When she got to the school, it was mostly empty except for a few kids scattered either on the benches or stairs, some talking and others doing homework. With a pep in her step, she marched to where she believed the dean's office was. </p><p>She felt eyes on her, so she turned to look. From across the room, a blonde boy looked at her. She waved slightly and turned, running up the stairs. She knocked on the door of the dean's office and waited patiently for a response.</p><p>"Come in." A man's voice said through the door. </p><p>Marinette did as she was told and walked in. She bowed slightly and said, "hello, I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng." She said with a smile.</p><p>"Ah yes, miss Dupain-Cheng," the owlish man stood, "I was expecting you, I am M. Damocles." He nodded his head, "please sit." </p><p>—</p><p>Adrien got to school early so he could sit in silence and do homework for a bit before Lila got there. She has gotten to be a real pain in the ass. The first day he met her, she said she was best friends with Chat Noir and tried to say she had a miraculous; Adrien knew better than to believe that. He didn't become Paris' great hero by being oblivious. Though for some reason, everyone in his class seems to think that she is telling the truth. She has lied to them many times about things from as minor as a missing paper to faking illnesses; it made Adrien mad. Adrien had caught himself multiple times before he hissed at her. Stupid cat tendencies! Adrien looked up when he saw movement come from the door to check if it was Lila, but saw the girl from yesterday, the one who saved his tail. "Oh my gosh, it's pigtails." He whispered so Plagg could hear him.</p><p>"So?" He asked from Adrien's pocket, now awoken from his catnap.</p><p>"She saved my butt yesterday, Plagg." Adrien didn't notice he was starring until she turned and looked at him. She smiled awkwardly and waved, then ran upstairs to M. Damecles' office.</p><p>"Oooo, does the kitten have a crush?" Plagg taunted. </p><p>"What nooo, of course not!" Adrien said in embarrassment.</p><p>"Sure, kid," Plagg said, sounding unconvinced.</p><p>Adrien was about to argue when he heard a loud shout from across the room, "Hi Adrien!" Lila shouts as she bounds towards him. She grabbed onto his arm with a death grip rubbing her cheek into his shoulder. Here is one of those times he suppressed a hiss. </p><p>"There goes the quiet," Adrian muttered. Lila laughed at this. "Can I do my homework?"</p><p>"Of course you can!" Lila chirped.</p><p>They sat there for a minute to Lila, refusing to let go of his arm his writing hand was attached to. "Lila!" Adrien said firmly, "can I have my arm!" His words dripped with frustration. The day hadn't even started, and he wanted to go home. UGH, school was supposed to be his escape, not a torture session in his prison life. It's gotten to the point the only time he feels free is when he is Chat Noir, and even then, it is starting to take its toll on him. Half of Paris seems to think he is an antagonizer rather than a hero. God's, wasn't he supposed to have a partner? Plagg said so anyway, but no partner ever showed up… he realized Lila hadn't let him go yet, so he, as gently as he could, forced his arm free. Adrien got a glare from the liar, but he could care less. He took a big scoot away from her and continued his homework, painfully aware of the glare burning holes into him.</p><p>Nino and Alya finally showed up, thank the gods, and the bell rang for everyone to go to class. Adrien begrudgingly packed up his things and walked as slowly as he could to class. At the beginning of the year, he sat with his best friend Nino, but then Lila came up with some bullshit lie to get the seats changed, and now she sat right next to him, rubbing against his body. He hated it when he requested to move Mme. Bustier said that Lila needed help in English, the topic he just so happened to be the best in. So he stayed there, at least Nino sat in front of him with Alya. </p><p>The final bell rang, and Mme. Bustier walked into the room with a bright smile on her face, "good morning, class!" She greets cheerfully. </p><p>"Good morning Mme. Bustier." The class replied in unison.</p><p>"Glad to see everyone here today! And Lila, I'm glad you made a miraculous recovery from your flu you had last week!" Mme. Bustier cheered.</p><p>Everyone in the class agreed, well, almost everyone. Adrien rolls his eyes, not in view of anyone, but he still did it. </p><p>"Thank you, everyone! I got so scared I wouldn't see any of you again, I-" Lila said, cutting herself off with a fake sob to add drama. The class immediately melted for her sob story. Some of the girls came over and hugged her and tried to comfort her.</p><p>After a few minutes, Mme. Bustier claps her hands to get the class's attention. The girls went back to their seats, and Lila had a split second look of annoyance in her eyes that quickly turned neutral. "Today is actually a really special day today!" Mme. Bustier starts, "today, we get a new student!" She cheered, and the class did too except for Lila, but no one really noticed.</p><p>She turned to the door and gestured for whoever was outside to come in, the door opened slightly, and the person who stepped in was the girl in pigtails from yesterday. Adrien notes the slight blush and stiff movements. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the glare on Lila's face. Mme. Bustier grabs the girl's shoulders and says, "this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng! From this day forward, she will be in class with you! Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself, sweetie?" </p><p>"Um…" was all she got out before Lila stood up.</p><p>"I'm, Lila! I would like to be the first to say welcome to the class, Marinette!" Lila blurts out, not letting Marinette get a word in.</p><p>"Thank you." She smiles brightly. Her smile makes Adrien's heart skip a beat.</p><p>"Wait a minute!" Alya shouts while standing up and pointing at the girl in the front, making everyone jump, "you're that girl who helped out Chat Noir yesterday! you distracted the Akuma with your hair tie!" Alya shouts, "girl, I need an interview with you!"</p><p>"Mlle. Césaire, please sit down!" Mme. Bustier says with a somewhat frustrated glare.</p><p>Alya sighs and says, "Fine. After class then!" She sits back down, and now the class is whispering to each other. </p><p>Marinette was feeling overwhelmed, "now!" Mme. Bustier says, "please tell us a bit about yourself." </p><p>Marinette gulped down the gunk in her throat and took a deep breath, "as Mme. Bustier said I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I am from Giverny, where I have been homeschooled for most of my life, and I want to be a fashion designer… I umm, made this outfit myself in preparation for this day, and I also brought macaroons from my parent's bakery that I helped make to give to all of you to try!" Marinette finished her rant loudly, probably not on purpose. Still, she looked like a frightened mouse, and Adrien thought it was the cutest thing. Maybe he could talk to her and bond with her over being homeschooled.</p><p>"How lovely!" Mme. Bustier says, "you can pass them out!" Marinette nodded and opened the box pulling out tongs and using them to grab a bright green cookie from the box and handing it to Mme. Buster the first cookie. "Thank you!" </p><p>Marinette went around passing out cookies to each of her new classmates and was thanked by all of them. When she reached Adrien and Lila, she handed them the cookies. Lila took a bite and said, "oh, this is pretty good! But I know some gourmet chefs that could give you and your family a few points!" She offered a sickeningly sweet voice that made Adrien want to gag.</p><p>"Um… ok?" Marinette said, "do you know Wang Cheng?" She asked.</p><p>"Of course, he and I bake together whenever he is here in Paris!" Lila lied.</p><p>"Ah, I see." That was all Marinette said before moving on and giving a macaroon to Adrien, "here you go." She said, handing it to Adrien.</p><p>Lila reached out her hand, trying to stop Marinette, "he is on a diet!" Lila said.</p><p>"Ok, well, I'm pretty sure he can tell me for himself," Marinette said, trying to match the sweet voice Lila made. "Do you want a macaron? You don't have to if you don't want to."</p><p>Adrien glared at Lila and reached out for the cookie, "I would love one!" Adrien says. Marinette gave it to him with a smile and placed the cookie onto his hand, he took a bite, and he smiled brightly, "this is the best thanks, pi- Marinette!" He said with the slightest blush. Marinette smiled back and continued handing out the cookies. She could feel a glare on her, but every time she turned to look, she couldn't find the source, but she had her theory.</p><p>One of the front seats was empty, but the girl next to the spot explained that the girl who usually sits there was out at brunch with her father because it was the only time he was free this week to talk. So Marinette nodded and placed a cookie on a napkin to wait for the girl to get to school. When she was finished handing out cookies, she walked to the back of the classroom to her new seat and sat down. Marinette spent the rest of the first half of class listening to Mme. Buster and slightly aware of the whispering around the class.</p><p>When the bell rang for lunch and immediately Marinette was bombarded with attention, most of the class turned to talk to her. It was exciting and overwhelming, with so many questions in such a short amount of time. A voice parted the crowd, "Hey, calm down! Give her some space!" Said the blonde boy from this morning. He held out his hand to shake hers.</p><p>"Prince Charming to the rescue," Nino whispers to Alya, who giggled at his joke; Adrien just looked back with a slight blush on his face causing the two friends to laugh harder. </p><p>She took his hand and shook it, "Thank you… um, what's your name?" Marinette asked.</p><p>This question caused the people around her to look at her as if she grew a second head; even the boy in front of her seems a little shocked. "He is Adrien Agreste," Lila said, butting into Adrien's misfortune, and Marinette could read it all over his face.</p><p>"Are… are you the class representative or something?" Marinette asked innocently.</p><p>At that moment Adrien fell in love!</p><p>"Are you serious?" Lila asked, "he is a model for the Gabriel Agreste brand!" She sweetly, but Marinette could hear the antagonizing tone.</p><p>"Oh, I thought Agrest sounded familiar," Marinette said. </p><p>Great, Adrien thought, now she probably thinks I'm an asshole. Thanks, Lila! </p><p>At that moment, Alya sat down next to her and wrapped her arm around the girl, "wanna get lunch with me! I will pay if you let me interview you?" Alya said.</p><p>"Um… sure, uh…" Marinette trailed off.</p><p>"Alya Césaire," she said, pointing her thumb at herself, "mod of the best superhero blog in all of Paris the SnapChat!" </p><p>Marinette giggled, "ok, I'm willing to if you show me a good restaurant." Marinette smiled.</p><p>"Oh, if you're paying, can I come?" Nino asked.</p><p>"I didn't say I would pay for you!" Alya said. </p><p>"C'mon, babe!" Nino said, laying his head on Alya's shoulder.</p><p>"Marinette, this freeloader on my shoulder is my boyfriend Nino," Alya introduced him to her.</p><p>"Best DJ around!" Nino added, making Marinette giggle.</p><p>"May I come?" Adrien whispers, trying to make sure Lila didn't hear.</p><p>Unfortunately, Lila did hear, she cringed onto Adrien, "can I come too?"</p><p>"I'm not paying for all of you, but ok!" Alya said, "let's go then!" Alya looped elbows with Marinette and Nino, dragging them away with Lila on their tail dragging Adrien along like a ragdoll. </p><p>Marinette looked back at Adrien with a weird look that made Adrien nervous, did Marinette not like him? Did she think he was a spoiled brat or something? He didn't notice the little butterfly flying around the school, looking for its next victim.</p><p>They reached a restaurant Alya claimed had the best crepes in Paris. Lila, the whole time talked about her adventures with Gordon Ramsay and how he made her the best crape ever. They ordered and sat at an outside table and waited for their food; Lila sat too close to Adrien, making him tense. Marinette smiled brightly, "Lila, can I sit next to you?" She asked.</p><p>“Sure Marinette!” Lila said.</p><p>"Adrien, can you scoot over a bit?" Marinette asked.</p><p>"Why don't you sit over here?" Lila said, trying to get Adrien to stay. </p><p>"But Alya should sit there so she could sit next to her boyfriend and so she could interview me at the same time!" Marinette offered up an excuse.</p><p>"Yeah, that sounds good!" Alya says, "the chat noir expert Lila Rossi and the interviewee Marinette Duran-Cheng, perfect!" Alya cheered.</p><p>"Also, before we start, can I have your phone numbers? I-I mean if you all don't mind?" Marinette said, unsure.</p><p>"Of course, girl, gimme that phone!" Alya reached over the table and took Marinette's phone to enter her number; she passed it to Nino, who gave it to Adrien, who then passed it back to her. Marinette handed her phone to Lila, who smiled and took the phone to enter her own number.</p><p>"Thank you!" Marinette sent texts to all of them so they could have her number. She sent a simple "hi" to everyone. </p><p>Except to Adrien, she wrote something else to him;<br/>
—<br/>
Marinette: Hey, I saw you looked a little uncomfortable next to Lila, so I took charge and did something. I hope you don't mind.</p><p>Marinette: sorry if I misread the situation, though…</p><p>—</p><p>Adrien looked at Marinette like she was a goddess,</p><p>—</p><p>Adrien: thank you</p><p>—</p><p>Marinette smiled at him, and Adrien felt like he was going to faint, this girl was so sweet, and at that moment, he realized he would do anything for her.</p><p>They sat and talked for a while, waiting for their crapes; when an arrow whizzed by Adrien's ear, he quickly stood and looked in the direction the arrow came from. There standing on the roof of a nearby building, was a brightly dressed person wearing neon pink platform crocs holding a longbow, pointing it in the teens' direction.</p><p>"What the heck?" Marinette said.</p><p>Alya immediately turned her phone to the Akuma with lime green hair. Nino tried to grab Alya to drag her away, but she was firmly rooted into the ground where she stood. Lila ran off as soon the first arrow made contact with the ground near her. Adrien thought, quickly grabbing Marinette by the hand and began dragging her away from the scene. He deposited her in an alleyway, "stay here. I'm going to go help Nino get Alya out of there!" Adrien said before turning and running away.</p><p>"But I can help!" Marinette yelled after him, but Adrien didn't hear her. Adrien ran into another alley, opening his jacket for Plagg to fly out.</p><p>"I was having so much fun! Ugh!" Adrien complains.</p><p>"Kitten likes pigtails, kitten likes pigtails!" Plagg sings.</p><p>"Shut up!" Adrien said with a blush, "I don't have time for a relationship; I'm too busy being a superhero! Plagg claws out!"</p><p>In a flash of green light, chat noir stood where Adrien once did. He took out his baton and pole-vaulted out of the alley; he jumped to see where the neon Akuma went. Down below, he saw something that made his chest tighten. He saw Alya and Nino turned into neon statues. "No…" he touched down and ran up to the now cold statues standing with fear in their eyes. He was too late. He could not save them. The tears collected in his eyes, "NO!" She shouts.</p><p>"ADRIEN!" He heard a voice screaming, "ALYA, NINO! WHERE ARE YOU?" It was Marinette. The last of the people he decided he would do anything for was running around looking for them. Adrien sniffed and whipped away his tears before turning to Marinette running back to the restaurant.</p><p>"Pigtails, you shouldn't be here!" Chat Noir said as she slowed to a stop seeing the neon statues.</p><p>"Alya, Nino!" That was all she said, running past him. She looked back at him and asked, "can you fix them?"</p><p>Adrien's heart clenched, and he bit his lip hard, shaking his head. Marinette gasped and hugged onto the statues for dear life and let out a sob.</p><p>Chat Noir bowed his head, "this is my fault. I was too late."</p><p>"No!" Marinette piped up to Chat's surprise, "you have to save all of Paris, not just the people I care about! Now is not the time to be hard on yourself!" Marinette shouts at the black-clad superhero. "Now go be a hero and save everyone else right now! I will find a place to hide…" Marinette said the last part with a bold look in her eyes. If she could be brave, so could he, he nodded and pole vaulted away to find the Akuma before it caused any more irreversible damage. </p><p>Marinette ran into the building. She cowered next under the counter when a sudden sob erupted from her, and tears rushed out of her eyes. Her first friends at her new school and now they are gone, all she could do was cry at that moment, she thought about Adrien and then about her parents even Lila she was worried about.</p><p>She went through her bag to find her handkerchief but instead found a hexagon-shaped black box. Her curiosity outweighed her fear, she opened it, and with a bright pink light, she shielded her eyes. When the light was gone, she saw a brilliant red bug the size of her fist flying in front of her. She screamed and covered her face in fear.</p><p>"Don't cry, please!" The bug said, "I am Tikki the Kwami of creation!"</p><p>"A-a what?" Marinette asked. </p><p>"I'm a magical creature that grants the power of healing and creation to the wearer of my earrings!" She gestured down to the small jewelry box, "you have been chosen, Marinette!" She said confidently.</p><p>Marinette looked from the box to the bug. No, Kwami and then her friends turned statues outside. "I can save my friends?" She asked.</p><p>Tikki turned around and gasped. She turned back around and said, "yes, of course! All you have to do to save them is call your special power and save the day by catching the Akuma, then when you throw the item that you use into the air to create a magical ladybug that will heal everything and everyone that has been affected by the Akuma!"</p><p>"What?" Marinette asked in confusion.</p><p>"Just put the earrings on and say Tikki spots on!" Tikki said, not wanting to explain again. Marinette did as she was told, and just before she could say the words, Tikki added, "and don't forget to catch the Akuma!" </p><p>Marinette nods and says, "Tikki spots on!" With a flash of pink light, Marinette into a superhero, Marinette squeaked in fear. She looked at her reflection in the window. She saw looking back was a girl with braided space buns, wearing a black cheongsam top paired with red and black leggings with black flats. Her hands were covered with black and red polka dot gloves going into the cheongsam. "Wow!" Marinette then said she reached for the yoyo attached to her hip. "How am I supposed to use this?" She asked herself. She looked to her friends, now turned statues, and walked up to them. "I'm gonna fix this!" She says with a new sense of determination filling her chest. She turned and took off running, following the destruction before her. Following her instincts, she used her yoyo as a grappling hook and threw it at the railing of a building. She pulled and took off, flying above the Paris streets.</p><p>As she flew through the sky, she spotted the cat boy and the Akuma victim fighting back and forth. Chat jumping from place to place, avoiding the arrows the Akuma shot at him, and Chat would use his baton to smack around, but they kept missing each other. Marinette took her chance and threw her yoyo at the Akuma, hitting them upside the skull making them lose balance and fall off their platform crocs and fall face-first into the roof of the building.</p><p>"Platforms are not meant to be fought in!" She shouts out, making her presence known. </p><p>Chat Noir stares at her in slight disbelief. The Akuma looks up with a glare, and a purple butterfly outline appears over their eyes, and they smirk, "so you are the other one?" They get up from the ground in a full sprint towards Marinette, "you pathetic little girl!" They shout as they draw their bow, ready to fire. Marinette doges out of the way, the arrow nearly hitting her. Chat growled and ran forward to smack the Akuma in the face with his baton knocking them down. </p><p>"Cataclysm!" Chat shouts as he grabs for the Akuma's crocks. They dissolve into a toxic gooey mess as a small black butterfly flies out. Chat quickly tries to find something to contain the insect but could find anything. Marinette did as Tikki had instructed her and caught the butterfly with her yoyo. Chat saw this and looked bewildered, "what are you doing?!" Chat asked like she was about to be akumatized herself.</p><p>Marinette looked down at the yoyo and released the bug, now a pure white, and it flew away. She smiled. She threw her yoyo up in the air and shouted, "Miraculous Ladybug!" And in a wave of bright light, all the damage the Akuma had caused was fixed. She turned to chat, beaming, "we did it!" She cheers.</p><p>Chat only glared at her, "where have you been!?" Were the first words out of his mouth.</p><p>"What?" Marinette asked.</p><p>"My Kwami told me I was supposed to have a partner, and you never showed up! What took you so long!" He shouts, ignoring the now conscious victim inching away from this confrontation </p><p>"I'm sorry, I-" Marinette tried.</p><p>"Sorry, doesn't cut it! Do you know how hard it has been by myself?! Do you know how many people would have survived if you showed up sooner!?" He growls.</p><p>Marinette was stunned silent, Chat Noir's ring began to beep, and without a word, he left fuming. Marinette felt the guilt build up in her, sure she had just gotten this power, but it made her feel terrible to think of all the lives that have been lost. She doesn't even know what was happening here in Paris other than some dude decided that he wanted to terrorize this beautiful city that only had one hero to protect it. At that moment, Marinette swore that she would do anything in her power to protect this city and the boy who saved her on her first day here. Marinette took off finding an ally near where she had left her statue friends and detransformed.</p><p>"You did amazingly!" Tikki says as she flys out of the earrings and lands in Marinette's hand.</p><p>"Chat Noir was mad at me," Marinette says sadly.</p><p>"Don't worry, he'll come around, he has been doing this a lot longer than you, and from what I heard, it's been hard for him," Tikki explained.</p><p>"I wish there was something I could do for him…" Marinette says, placing Tikki into her purse.</p><p>"You will do fine, now let's go check on your friends!" Tikki says with a smile.</p><p>Marinette gasped and took off running to where her friends were. When she saw Alya and Nino clinging to each other like a miracle had occurred. She sped up and crashed into the two with tears in her eyes. They smiled and cried together; Adrien appeared with a worried look. When he saw his friend's ok, he gasped and did the same as Marinette. He ran forward, crashing into them, and held tightly as if he let go, they would disappear. </p><p>When they finally parted, Alya was the first to speak, "what happened?" She asked, "by all accounts, we should be dead… I mean, I'm not complaining, but…"</p><p>Adrien's expression darkened, "a new hero showed up. She had the power to heal…" he says.</p><p>"What! And I missed it! How will I go on!?" Alya asked, dramatically leaning into Nino, "did she say her hero name? Did you get a picture? Oh my gosh, the blog is gonna BLOW UP!!!" She shouts in excitement. </p><p>"Nope, didn't get any of that." That was all Adrien said.</p><p>"Mari, did you see her?" Alya asked.</p><p>Marinette flushed at the nickname, "um, n-no, I was too busy hiding!" She exclaimed nervously.</p><p>"Oh well…" Alya says in defeat, "I'll get a pic next time!" She says with a wild beam.</p><p>"Babe, you need to stop running headfirst into danger," Nino says, grabbing her hand. "I bet you're stressing Chat Noir out more than the Akuma's themselves." </p><p>"But who else is going to get the scoop on the cat!" Alya asked.</p><p>Nino sighs, "let's go back to class and hope everything is ok."</p>
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